1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-functional device for lifting a loaded person or object to move upwardly or downwardly along a climbing rope, and the speed of upward or downward movement can be controlled. The main applications are for escape from high-rise building, adventure, military climbing and etc.
2. Description of Related Arts
In the fields of travel, sports, firefighting and counter-terrorism, a person may require to use a rope to move up or down along the rope in order to move up or down or to transport an object to a higher level or lower level. Traditionally, a person uses his or her hands to hold the rope directly and utilizes the fictional force between the hands and the rope for upward movement. Accordingly, not only the level of climbing is limited, but also a relative larger manpower is wasted.
Along with the technological development, different types of mechanical and electrical devices are applied in this field. For example, China patent application, publication number: CN1046682A, title: Climbing rope device, discloses a pair of climbing rope device in which the climbing rope device is clipping on the rope body such as steel cable, steel rope, rope or elongated rod which is suspended in the air, wherein alternate movement of hand and leg can result in upward and downward movement of the body, and the body can be maintained at any position on the climbing rope. The characterized features of the pair of climbing rope device includes a pair of sheave units fittingly connected with each other and are capable of having rotational movement at opposite direction, wherein one or both of the sheave units is engraved with protruded groove element, eccentric groove element or unequal ring groove at a middle portion of an outer circumferential area, and a through-hole is defined between the two sheave units for the rope passage. The size of the through-hole is adjustable through the rotational movement of the sheave units. When the size of the through-hole is increased, the climbing rope device can slide along the rope for upward or downward movement; when the size of the through-hole is decreased, the climbing rope device is locked and prevented from movement. The problem of this climbing rope device is that the climbing rope device is a mechanical climbing device which requires the manual movement of hands and legs, wherein the upward movement relies on the power of the person, and the locking position between the climbing rope device and the rope or the rod is achieved by the operation of hands and legs of the person. Accordingly, the operation is inconvenience and the climbing level is limited. On the other hands, the safety and reliability is not guaranteed.